The chapel service continued Focus Week, an annual week on the OBU campus emphasizing discipleship and encouraging students to focus on their lives in Christ. Clay Phillips, director of student ministry at OBU, will conclude Focus Week when he delivers the next chapel message Feb. 15, also at 10 a.m. in Raley Chapel.

Lawless spoke on Genesis 3:1-15. He gave five points on how the enemy tries to engage with us and how we should look to Christ despite that. He stated that the enemy engages us in conversation and tries to direct us to what we’re “missing” when we follow Christ. Lawless talked about the importance of knowing the word of God in order to combat the enemy’s attacks.

“The world and the enemy say to look at what you’ll get when you give in,” stated Lawless.

He then noted that the enemy wants us to hide and to blame somebody else for our sins. He talked about Genesis 3:8 and how throughout history people have tried to blame others for their sins, just as Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent.

In addition to his duties at Southeastern, Lawless also serves as team leader for theological education strategists for the International Mission Board. He previously served as vice president for global theological advance for the IMB. Prior to that, he was dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also served as vice president for academic programming and the director of professional doctoral studies.

He earned a Bachelor of Science from Cumberland College and both an M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southern Seminary. He is the author of eight works, including “Membership Matters” and “Spiritual Warfare,” and has contributed numerous articles to denomination periodicals.